Our client is seeking a commercially aware and analytically strong Manufacturing Capacity Lead to support its aerospace manufacturing network. This permanent role will connect customer demand, quoting, factory operations, production planning and supply chain, ensuring available capacity and technical capability are aligned with current requirements and future growth.
Key Responsibilities:
- Build and maintain a network-wide view of manufacturing capacity, including machine types, work envelopes, operating hours, shifts, skills, utilisation and confirmed constraints.
- Translate pipeline, forecast and confirmed customer demand into capacity requirements by process, machine group, geography and time horizon.
- Assess manufacturing capability by matching part requirements with equipment, tolerances, materials, inspection resources, finishing processes and technical expertise.
- Provide Quoting and Order Management teams with realistic lead-time and capacity information, distinguishing technical execution time from capacity-driven scheduling constraints.
- Recommend facility allocation and load-balancing decisions based on capability, capacity, logistics, quality approvals, customer requirements and delivery risk.
- Identify bottlenecks, single points of failure, capability gaps and overloaded work centres, developing appropriate mitigation and escalation plans.
- Work with Production Planners and Supply Chain Leads to validate schedules, supplier coverage, outsourced processes and execution readiness.
- Maintain accurate capacity, capability, forecast and constraint data within MasonOS and associated planning systems, while monitoring utilisation, available-to-promise capacity, schedule adherence and lead-time performance.
Job Requirements:
- Significant experience in capacity planning, manufacturing operations planning, industrial engineering or multi-site production planning.
- Demonstrable ability to translate demand into realistic capacity models and practical decisions across multiple sites, work centres or suppliers.
- Strong understanding of discrete manufacturing constraints, preferably within CNC machining, including machine capability, routings, setups, cycle times and inspection.
- Ability to distinguish technical manufacturing capability from available production capacity and identify meaningful gaps in each area.
- Experience in scenario planning, bottleneck analysis, load balancing and capacity risk mitigation.
- Advanced spreadsheet and analytical skills, with experience using ERP, MRP or manufacturing planning systems.
- Strong operational data management skills and the ability to establish consistent definitions, data standards and review cadences.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to present clear analysis and practical recommendations to site leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.
Desirable Experience:
- Experience within aerospace, defence, precision machining or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environments.
- Experience coordinating capacity across owned facilities, contract manufacturers, franchise operations or partner networks.
- Knowledge of CNC machine capability, CAM programming, CMM and inspection constraints, and outsourced special processes.
- Understanding of AS9100 or EN9100 standards, customer-specific sourcing requirements and controlled manufacturing environments.
- Experience developing capacity models, allocation rules and investment cases covering additional shifts, equipment, automation or supplier development.
- APICS, ASCM, industrial engineering, operations research or comparable manufacturing planning qualifications.
What Will Make You Successful:
Success in this role will come from taking a whole-network view, connecting customer demand with actual manufacturing capacity and technical capability rather than relying solely on headline machine numbers. The successful individual will anticipate constraints, validate planning models against factory realities and protect customer, quality and technical requirements when making allocation decisions.
They will also bring teams together by creating clear priorities across factory operations, Quoting, Planning, Supply Chain and leadership, while improving planning standards, data quality and decision-making as the manufacturing network expands.
If you have the manufacturing capacity planning expertise and analytical approach to support growth across a complex aerospace network, apply now.
